obt sold out

Community Edition OBT Sold Out: What Now?

/in

The Open Benchtable is sold out! Now that we have no more (well, technically there are still three or four left) Community Editions to sell, we want to know what your thoughts are on the next steps. Should we produce another batch of the custom community editions? Or just have the BC1 version up on the site so anyone can still join the Open Benchtable community with the sleeve available separately?

The Open Benchtable team has had a fairly challenging year or so. Getting the product right, doing the research, absorbing the feedback from Overclockers and enthusiasts and finally bringing it to market took plenty of effort and determination. It’s also been a great experience and one that, at the end of the day, has produced a product which we feel proud of. According to end-user feedback, it is also a very nice piece of kit. However, it is clear that we have now reached a crossroads of sorts.

We have now arrived at the place where we no longer have remaining stock of the Community Edition OBT. The Open Benchtable will still be available in the retail channel in the form of the BC1 from Streacom, so potential buyers need not panic just yet. You can find the 32 shops where the table is available in our forum. We will however ponder the next move. Should we restock the Community Edition OBT and continue with the laser engraved product numbering, or should we leave sales to the retail channel and keep the Open Benchtable alive as a project and a community only?

Firstly let’s make sure there’s no confusion about the difference between the BC1 from Streacom, the Community Edition that has been available directly from this site. In essence the two products are identical. They are all manufactured by Streacom to exactly identical specifications. The Community Edition was created to give members of the Open Benchtable community an opportunity to have a special version, kind of a way to say thanks to the support we’ve had in the last year or so. The things that made the Community Edition special were that it came with a black sleeve and had a laser etched serial number and logo.

So what about the Open Benchtable project? The Open Benchtable project is essentially two things. A collaboration between HWBOT, OC-TV and Streacom, the three entities which helped create the product. It also refers to the community that helped create it; the group of Overclockers who gave valuable feedback and advice regarding how the final version was created, plus those who are still helping to develop accessories and other devices that can be used to enhance the overall experience.

At this point in time, we have three options to continue to offer the Open Benchtable via our website:

  1. Create a new batch of community editions with sleeve and custom engraving
  2. Offer the Streacom BC1 for purchase via the website (and put a link up to purchase the sleeve separately)
  3. Offer the BC1 and sleeve as a single package

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or in the Open Benchtable discussion forum at HWBOT.

(PS: we know a lot of people are looking for spare parts – they are coming!)